Jags unveil new video boards before crowd of more than 52,000

Posted by Mike Florio on July 27, 2014, 10:30 AM EST

AP

Jacksonville ain’t Oxnard.

With the Cowboys struggling — and ultimately unable — to get 5,000 fans to show up for training camp in California, the Jaguars lured 52,961 to EverBank Field for the unveiling of video screens even larger than the Close Encounters mother ship that hovers over the surface where Jerry Jones’ team plays.

It wasn’t just about the video boards. Fulham F.C., the English soccer team owned by Jaguars owner Shad Khan, thumped D.C. United 3-0 in an exhibition match, followed by a free concert from Carrie Underwood.

But the real star of the night was the gigantic new screens, one at each end of the venue and both larger than a football field. (The picture accompanying this blurb shows an image that filled the prior video screen inside its much larger successor.)

It’s the latest one-up move in an era featuring NFL teams trying to outdo each other in the hopes of enticing fans to choose attendance in person over watching games at home. Eventually, look for the top of an entire stadium to be capped and wrapped with a 360-degree drive-in theater screen.

Other amenities that wouldn’t be practical in northern climates include the pools that have been installed at EverBank Field, giving fans an experience that definitely would be difficult to duplicate at home. Especially if they don’t have a pool.

Ultimately, the way to keep a stadium packed is to develop a team that contends for postseason berths on a consistent basis. Quietly, the Jaguars are working on that project, too.

That’s pretty awesome! Seems Jags have taken the approach of the stadium is the attraction and not the Jags themselves. All good, at least you get big screens, pools and cabanas; throw in a couple wins.

The entire nation of jags fan base is only 52,000 strong/weak lol and still didn’t sell out. #nobodyhasitbetter

okeedokeesmokee says:Jul 27, 2014 11:09 AM

They are nice but as a Jags fan I’m more interested in the progress of the team ON THE FIELD. Now if you put Kerry Underwood in one of the pools in a string bikini well then, now thats a whole new outlook. Go Jags

theravenlives2 says:Jul 27, 2014 11:09 AM

Nice to see the Jags can pull a crowd of 52,000 plus to the Stadium. Oh, wait, it was for a soccer game and a free concert by one of the hottest preformers in country music. I guess that explains the crowd.

The event exceeded the hype. Those boards are SICK and will give allow the stadium to stand out among others. And as for the not so clever ticket sales comment. Facts are pretty cool things. You might wanna google that and type a retraction.

bonnovi says:Jul 27, 2014 11:21 AM

Oh, I see, I did not read the story fully before commenting. I doubt most of the 52,000 people were there to see the game, they were probably there for the concert/screen unveiling.

Those boards are awesome. You could see the moustache hairs on Shad Khan. The soccer game was at 6pm and the video boards were unveiled at 8pm. The crowd slowly trickled in, so the soccer friendly was just a warmup to the board unveiling.

Gonna need some big tarps to cover those things when only 17 people show up on Sundays .

jimmysee says:Jul 27, 2014 12:04 PM

May well be the highpoint of their season.

Just sayin’

wimpyburgers says:Jul 27, 2014 12:14 PM

Just in time for hurricane season

britishraven says:Jul 27, 2014 12:32 PM

I’m amazed that many people would go to watch anything related to Fulham. They were relegated from the Premiership last season. For those of you that don’t follow ‘soccer’ that means they now play the likes of Watford, Brentford and Middlesbrough rather than Manchester United and Arsenal.

purpleguy says:Jul 27, 2014 1:37 PM

So will they play Sienfeld re-runs on those screens when the team is down by 17 points in the 4th quarter?

robigd says:Jul 27, 2014 2:19 PM

Shad Khan sure is starting to make it tough for the pundits to make fun of the Jags.

It’s sad that so many idiots act like they know about football when they’re just clueless casual fans who only watch their team play sometimes. Jags aren’t moving, they sell tickets better than you think, and will probably be a playoff team in the next year or two. I’m not even a Jags fan and I know this.

What a great event last night.There were not many dry eyes at the event as it has been referred to as “The Rebirth of Jacksonville”. There has not been this much enthusiasm as there is now since the 1990’s.

Wait till the free practice in the stadium happens this coming Friday. There may be 40,000 at a practice.

The comments under this article about tarps and moving are division rivals or 15 and under kids.

You would have to be a complete idiot to not see what is happening in 2014. We expect at least 6 wins this year with a major trending team with a top 5 owner.

The future is extremely bright here in Jacksonville.
Flame away but you are only showing what a fool you are.

numberoneinthehoodg says:Jul 27, 2014 5:44 PM

I like Shaka Khan. If he (we) had a sense of humor, he would have had Al Jazeera on when it went live.

Florio I need to ask where this new found salivation for the Jags future comes from. For most of last season you couldn’t write a post about the jags without a jab about how bad they are.

Now you can’t help but talk about their bright future. I’m not saying they aren’t building up little by little. My problem is that other teams who have done the same things to build brighter futures (buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota) you continue to refuse to give them any credit where credit is too on building the talent on their team.

Believe it or not, Ed and others are still bitter from 1993 when Tags picked Jax and Carolina over baltimore. 21 years and 2 super bowls later some are still angry.

“He’s an angry elf”

Google large market and small market teams Ed…..it will make your comparison less foolish of attendance and waiting lists……

oldcracker says:Jul 30, 2014 2:07 AM

Well, there’s your answer to selling those tickets. Include a top-5 concert and a bush league soccer game with every “home” game! That should remove some of the tarps anyway.

Maybe they can show a NASCAR race during the games.

By the way, how’s that going to affect those NASCAR home games? Will the fans be able to see the video board from their RV’s, b-b-q’s, and Montain Dew? I was so hoping to see how they were going to work out the substitution of players during the race. (Dodgeball training)